The 100 best guitarists of all time – 61: Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers Band
“I am the famous guitarist,” said Duane Allman once, “but Dickey is the real expert.” Although they only played in the Allman Brothers band for almost three years, they developed a dream-like understanding and played their famous Twin Guitar runs.
After Duane’s death in 1971, the band continued as a lead guitarist and made successes such as “Ramblin ‘Man” and “Jessica”. His roots were in jazz, and his influence is to listen to all Southern rock groups that followed the Allman Brothers.
Born: 1943, died 2024. Guitar: Gibson Les Paul Goldtop (1957).
Key song:
“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”-The Allman Brothers Band, 1971. The thirteen-minute live version is perhaps the greatest jazz rock expedition that has ever been done. Dickie Betts Boogie Riffs float like angel wings and define Southern Rock practically on their own.
Dickey Betts, the singer, songwriter and guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band, who shaped the band and the Southern Rock in general with his penetrating solos, his popular songs and his shaking spirit, died on Thursday morning at the age of 80. The cause was cancer and a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, confirmed Betts’ manager David Spero the Rolling Stone.
In 2017, beds looked back on his life without remorse and told the Rolling Stone: “I had a great life and I can’t complain,” he says. “If I could do it again, I don’t know what I could do differently. There are processes that I could probably have dealt with better. But what’s the point? You have to go in and fight and make the best of the time you have.